Fall Creek Gorge Tour Preview

1

Rare Plants of Fall Creek Gorge

Gorges provide conditions for plants not typically found in this area. From where you are standing, there are two uncommon plants growing on the gorge walls. On the north side of this bridge, the hot and dry limestone and shale ledges with little soil are ideal conditions for the rare little fern, rusty woodsia (Woodsia ilvensis). On the south side, the shade and cool water percolating through the rock walls provide constant moisture and cool temperatures for the rare Canadian primrose (Primula mistassinaca) and butterwort (Pinguicula vulgaris).

2

Side Trip: Risley Trail

This trail and staircase leads to a scenic picnic area next to Fall Creek at the bottom of gorge. An interpretive sign there highlights more plants that grow in the gorge’s sunny and shaded areas. If you choose to visit the creekside, return here to continue the tour.

3

Old Bridge and Trail

A low, wooden suspension bridge once spanned the creek here. Look for old steps cut into the bedrock and retaining walls for the trail on the opposite side of the creek. This bridge provided the only access to Cornell’s campus from the gorge’s north side until the Thurston Avenue Bridge was built in 1897. After several washouts, the suspension footbridge downstream from here was built in 1901 as its replacement.

4

South-facing Gorge Rim Forest

This deep and narrow gorge provides a range of growing conditions for plants growing here. Facing south, the forest on this side of the gorge receives direct sunlight, creating warmer and drier conditions suitable for oaks and hickories. The chestnut oaks in front of you are abundant on this side of the gorge. Also look for red oak, white oak, shagbark hickory, and pignut hickory.

5

Hydroelectric Power Plant

Look for the historic building in the gorge below from the upstream side of this bridge. The water fed into this hydroelectric power plant comes from a pipe eight feet in diameter that carries water from the Beebe Lake Dam underneath nearby roads. It currently generates 2% of Cornell University’s electricity. The University set a goal to upgrade this plant and increase its electricity production by 20% to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

6

Side Trip: Horseshoe Falls Trail

This trail leads to the base of the gorge to an overlook in view of 30-foot high Horseshoe Falls. A sign along the way highlights how Fall Creek has eroded the gorge in a “stair-step” pattern of six waterfalls. After your visit, return here to continue the tour.

7

Ecological Restoration

There is an on-going effort to improve the health and biodiversity of the forests on the gorge’s rim and steep slopes. Efforts include removing the invasive Norway maple and planting native trees that will also help stabilize the steep slope. Here, 20-30 species of trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants have been added. Notice how the cut trees were used to stabilize the bank, allowing plants to establish roots in the built-up soil.

8

Horseshoe Falls

Thirty-foot-high Horseshoe Falls is one of six waterfalls in this Gorge. The water of Fall Creek has been eroding away gorge bedrock—shale and sandstone—for over 15,000 years. Waterfalls are formed when water erodes away layers of weak shale faster than underlying layers of tougher sandstone, creating a stair-step pattern of bedrock. Take a moment to take in the sights and sounds at this overlook.Warning: Do not swim here. Strong undercurrents, even when the water flow is low, have trapped people underwater and resulted in drowning.

9

Cayuga Trail

This trail entrance is the western end of the 10-mile Cayuga Trail, which follows the path of Fall Creek through several Cornell Botanic Gardens’ Natural Areas, Gardens around the Nevin Welcome Center, and the Newman Arboretum. Visit cayugatrailsclub.org for more detail about the trail route.

10

Water Power in Fall Creek

The area below is part of the City of Ithaca’s Ithaca Falls Natural Area. Ezra Cornell, founder of Cornell University, designed and built dams and mills in this area to harness the power of water. Under Ezra’s recommendation, a tunnel was carved into the gorge wall to carry water to power a mill downstream. The plans he drew to guide excavation estimated a tunnel distance that was only 6” different from actual measurements. This was considered an amazing engineering feat at the time.

11

Architectural Jointing

Notice the shape of the flat rock faces of the gorge walls in front of you. The rock has fallen away along fractures that intersect at nearly right angles—an effect called architectural jointing. These rock ledges are ideal places for cliff-nesting birds, including red-tailed hawks, to build their nests.Click the video link to view a one-minute video of red tailed hawks feeding their chicks in a nest in this gorge.

12

North-facing Gorge Rim Forest

The eastern hemlock trees in front of you cover most of this north-facing side of the gorge and are threatened by a very small insect known as the hemlock woolly adelgid. This invasive insect has decimated stands of hemlock trees in forests of northeastern United States, and has infested trees here and many other Cornell natural areas. Cornell Botanic Gardens staff have put much effort into treating over 1200 hemlocks with a systemic insecticide, training volunteers to detect infestations early, and collaborating on adelgid bio-control research.

13

Cayuga Lake View

This destination was created to enjoy the view of the gorge and Cayuga Lake. Fall Creek has been carving this gorge since the most recent glacier excavated Cayuga Lake over 15,000 years ago—explained in more detail on the sign here. This area was part of Ezra Cornell’s original estate. Before Cornell was built here, rumor has it that Ezra brought legislators to this lake view to convince them that this was the ideal place to establish New York’s Land Grant university.This seating area was created in 2012 after the university set aside funds to improve gorge trails and add spaces to enjoy the gorge. Gorge trails were originally built during the late 1920’s with funds provided by Colonel Henry Sackett, a Cornell student (Class of 1875) and dedicated member of Cornell’s Board of Trustees. His funds were also used to build trails, staircases, and footbridges in Cascadilla Gorge and around Beebe Lake.

14

The Foundry

This is the oldest building remaining at Cornell. It was built in 1883 as a foundry for the Sibley School of Mechanical Engineering where students created custom metal castings. Still known as “The Foundry,” it is now the Department of Art’s sculpture studio.

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Thurston Avenue Bridge

To connect the Cornell campus to the new and growing community across Fall Creek from here, this bridge was built in 1897, followed by the Stewart Avenue Bridge in 1899, and the nearby suspension footbridge in 1901. In 1900, a line of the Ithaca Street Railway (trolley) known as “The Loop” was added, which crossed Thurston Avenue Bridge to provide service to residents of Cornell Heights.